Howl
by xMoymoy
Summary: AU Terrorist three-shot. Shinobu, a young husky pup, runs away from his home and Takatsuki owners, in hopes of finding his destined partner out in the wild.
1. Chapter 1

**AN**: This first chapter won't be the greatest one, but oh well. Beginnings are never the greatest anyway.

Shinobu is a husky and Miyagi is a wolf; I've always wanted to write something with those two being animals... even before I began writing some of my multi-chap fics, I thought it would be fun doing something like this.

**Notes**:

When I say that Shinobu is eighteen or Miyagi thirty five, I mean it in _dog/wolf years_. Otherwise it would be weird saying that Shinobu is just over one years old and Miyagi being however old he would be as a wolf.

This fic is _messed up_. I'll explain furthermore at the end of this chapter.

* * *

><p>Finally. The snow seemed to have all melted.<p>

The chilly winter was at last coming to an end and spring was about to bloom. The husky had waited all season for this.

He had somewhere else to be. There was _someone_ he needed to be with, ever since the husky first saw him thirteen years ago. But the young canine had always been much of a coward. As much as he wanted to meet him again, the husky couldn't imagine what life could have been like in the wild.

He was still a puppy, anxiously awaiting the moment he could be considered a full fledged adult dog. Even now he wasn't sure if his body would handle a life outside of his warm, cosy cottage. His owners basically spoiled him with attention everyday. He knew there was a lifestyle outside of that but he never experienced it before. And even though he liked his owners, it was time.

He had to get out. He wanted freedom.

Now that the snow was gone, it was his chance. To see _him_ again.

The energetic husky leaped off the soft sofa, scampering away from the clear, glass window. The pup passed by a human figure who he knew as 'woman Takatsuki' and his paws led him to the wooden front door. The huge board-like thing was shut, so to gain somebody's attention, the husky scratched at it.

He never scraped his claws hard enough to leave marks, but his nails hitting the solid wood always created enough noise for the humans to hear. Within seconds, the young pup heard his oldest owner walk up to him. It was 'man Takatsuki,' as the pup often thought of it.

"You want to go out, boy?"

The husky got up on its hind legs, placing its paw on the human's stomach. The pup waved its lively tail in the air. "Open this door, human! I want out! It's spring now – let me out of this house!" the pup whined, as he often did when he wanted to leave the small house. To the human however, he probably sounded something like, _yip yap woof bark_!

The humans always let the pup go outside. But they had to accompany him. They used to leash him when he was very young, but they eventually learned that the pup could be trusted not to run off and stopped using that tight string.

But today was going to be different.

"I'm going to walk to dog!" man Takatsuki called out to his female companion, twisting the silver door knob and grabbing his coat from a nearby hanger.

The exact moment the door opened wide enough, the pup sprinted out. As fast as his legs would take him.

To the left of the wooden house was the village, to the right was the forest and mountains. The pup went right, into the wild.

"Hey–!" the husky heard man Takatsuki yell behind him, way too slow to be able to grab the young canine.

As he disappeared behind some trees, the husky realized he was free. He no longer had to be cooped up in that house and could go anywhere he wanted. Although he did feel a bit for his owners, it was time for the wild.

It was time to confront his destiny.

* * *

><p>Miyagi lay miserably next to a tree. His mind couldn't stop going back to <em>her<em>... replaying the short time they've spent together. He loved her deeply. She was his everything – his meaning to live... but now she was gone for good.

He always knew she was ill, but the winter season turned out to be too much for her to take. Miyagi constantly made sure to snuggle close every night. But one morning she never responded to his desperate calls.

He buried her body two weeks ago after that.

If only she was able to hold up for just two more weeks. She could have made it through winter and maybe have a chance to recover, having a full life with Miyagi. But life was one hell of a bitch. It never allowed life-long happiness... everyone would always lose what was most precious at some point.

The black wolf lifted his head off his front limbs when he smelt the scent of flesh and heard a rustle behind a nearby bush. Looking past some leaves, he spotted some sandy-coloured fur. Had to be a female black buck... but the smell seemed like a mixture of something else too. The wolf slowly got to his feet, his eyes locked onto the animal a little ways away from him.

He might as well have his lunch now, since the opportunity was right there in front of him and he had nothing better to do. He never had anything more important to do ever since two weeks ago.

At lightning speed, the wolf charged and pounced at it. He growled ferociously at his prey and attempted to clasp his sharp claws around the black buck's flesh as he normally did... but the animal dodged. The smell also didn't seem all that right. He smelt the slight stench of black buck's flesh, but it was mostly something else.

It also wasn't very often when his food got away from him so quickly, but Miyagi didn't let either of those faze him.

The second Miyagi's paws hit the earth beneath him, the wolf pivoted and tackled his meal onto her backside.

Miyagi froze when he heard a whimper... black bucks normally never whimpered.

The dark wolf glanced down at the face of something he hadn't expected. A puppy. With a slab of fleshy meat locked between its teeth, which got knocked away once tackled. As he stared at the pup, Miyagi's paws remained on top of its chest to keep it in place.

The smaller dog had its eyes clamped shut, breathing heavily as though expecting the worst to come. But... the worst wasn't going to happen since Miyagi certainly didn't eat dogs. What the hell was a young husky doing in this sort of setting anyway? And carrying a chuck of food like that.

Even as Miyagi didn't do anything, the trembling young pup continued to squeeze its eyes together and occasionally let out a small whimper. The little coward was probably a lost one, scared shitless at that.

"Kid," Miyagi said, attempting to tone down the husky's level of fright a bit.

The canine underneath Miyagi hesitantly opened its large eyes and locked them onto Miyagi's dark ones. The pup almost immediately stopped shaking, and after a moment, paws slowly reached up and snaked around Miyagi's neck.

"... Miyagi..."

The older wolf looked stupefied when one of his hind legs felt a furry tail brush against it. The terrified little shit just seconds ago suddenly became all too comfortable and relaxed... not to mention, he seemed to somehow recognize Miyagi.

The wolf didn't even know this pup.

"... Um... uh... what..." The right words just weren't coming to the old wolf.

"Miyagi... It's destiny... for us to meet like this," the sandy pup said, in no way helping Miyagi's confused state.

"... Hah? Destiny...?" Miyagi placed one paw on the ground beside the husky and used his other to try and pry off one of the kid's paws off his neck. "I only tackled you because that meat you were carrying smelt like black buck... and the colour of your fur was the same as a female one..."

"I'm Shinobu."

"Uh... Yeah, hi." Miyagi tried to peel the other paw off of him, but as he did the first paw he got off came right back around his furry neck. "I'm... um... Miyagi."

"I love you."

Miyagi immediately jumped off the delirious puppy and backed up a few feet. His enlarged dark eyes observed the young dog roll back onto his legs and turn to the flabbergasted wolf.

"W-What?" Miyagi stammered, not knowing what else to do in such a situation.

Shinobu stepped closer. "I'm in love with you. We're fated. Love me back now."

After a moment of blank response, the ebony wolf let up a slight chuckle. "You're... you're kidding, right? Haha... funny... yeah, funny..."

Shinobu had a more serious glow in his narrowed grey eyes, taking two steps closer to Miyagi. "Miyagi. Love me back." One more step, and the smaller one was right in front of his target wolf. "Right now."

Miyagi was no longer laughing – he was incredibly freaked out by this kid. He didn't even know where he had come from. "R-Right now?"

"Now."

"I... don't think so."

The pup's confident face fell, a little bit disappointed. "Why?" he demanded aggressively.

"I don't even know you! I've never seen you before in my life, I can't love you just like that."

Miyagi had also just lost her, which he didn't say. And she was irreplaceable, bratty kid or not. Miyagi was in no way ready to move on.

"..." The kid momentarily fell silent. "You mean... you don't remember?"

The wolf blinked. "Remember what...?" he asked, though he wasn't even sure whether or not he actually wanted the answer.

The young husky glumly averted his pair of grey eyes to his front paws. "I want to be with you."

Miyagi once again took a step back. This kid was seriously scaring him. "You're a puppy! You should go find some good owners... there are lots in the city who would take you in..."

"No!" Shinobu flicked his gaze back onto the raven wolf. "I belong in the wild... like you. I don't want to be trapped in a house, Miyagi!"

"Ah... that's probably true." Miyagi had never been a house pet before, but the idea of being anything but free never seemed too appealing to him. It was still rare for Miyagi to see a husky pup in that area without an owner though.

As the large wolf spontaneously examined the pup while wondering where he could have come from, he spotted a collar around Shinobu's neck... despite being difficult to catch with all that honey-coloured fur in the way.

"Are you a house pet?"

The husky visibly flinched. That brat already answered Miyagi's question.

"... No..."

"Don't lie, brat. I see your tag," Miyagi huffed.

Shinobu scowled at the bigger one. "But I'm not a pet anymore. I ran away. I'm not going back."

"Hm?" Maybe the kid wasn't as cowardly as Miyagi initially thought. "I admire your bravery," the wolf admitted. "But are you sure a little guy like you can handle it out here on your own?"

"I'm not little!" Shinobu snapped. "And I won't be alone because I'll be with _you_!"

Miyagi huffed and turned away. "I don't care if you want to leave your master, live out here in this area, or whatever the hell you want. But you are not going to be staying with me. I don't want to be responsible for you." Miyagi walked away, but behind him he heard that pup follow. He sighed; Miyagi was getting somewhat tired of this.

"But you're already responsible! You have to fall in love with me! I knew that if I hung onto some other animal's meat I found, I'd attract you... and that too is fate!"

"For one thing, I am not responsible. And also, I don't have to fall in love with you," Miyagi huffed. As he walked, he stared down at the leaves and branches his large paws stepped over. Unfortunately, he didn't think the kid was going to go away too easily... and he was certainly correct as he heard the little scampering noises behind him increasing.

"But Miyagi–"

"Kid." Miyagi stopped walking and turned to face the annoying little pup again. "When did you run away?"

Shinobu blinked a bit, staring at the older and larger wolf with uncertainty. "... This morning."

Miyagi let out a sigh once again. That meant that the little puppy probably hadn't even been on his own for a whole day yet. Shinobu must have had just a couple hours of experience as a wild dog at most.

"Kid–"

"Stop calling me that. I said I'm Shinobu," the husky huffed, once again scowling.

"Shinobu-chin. You've probably lived your whole life as a domestic dog, correct? You don't know a thing about surviving out here without a human to care for you."

"That's... not true!" Shinobu growled a bit, defensively. "I've had a lot of walks – man Takatsuki brings me out in the forest all the time! And sometimes even the mountains!"

Miyagi assumed that this 'man Takatsuki' fellow was probably the brat's owner or master or whatever. "You think having a lot of leashed walks even compares to living out here on your own?"

"I said I wouldn't be alone... I'd be with you," Shinobu silently muttered. "And man Takatsuki doesn't put me on a leash anymore. I know my way all around here so I won't get lost."

"And what about food, hm? That piece of flesh you had when I first found you... did you hunt it on your own?"

"... No, I found it... with a pile of bones and other leftover stuff..."

"House puppies eat that horrible-looking pebble-like stuff, don't they?"

"..." Shinobu's frown deepened. "I eat meat. Man Takatsuki always gave me some from the butcher's... so if I teach myself to hunt, I won't even be a burden to you," the determined pup said.

"Oh? So if you managed to hunt down a rabbit, you wouldn't have any trouble tearing at its skin, ripping it to shreds, and feasting past its bones and guts?"

"Of course I'd be willing to do that."

"Hm." Miyagi tried hard to look for any signs of unease or cowardice, but the young pup seemed pretty damn confident... if not anxious.

"All I have to do is practice, Miyagi. Then I can be your perfect companion!" the husky canine boasted, energetically jumping up to the wolf.

Miyagi wordlessly eyed the tail-waving pup skeptically... he didn't like this brat's bratty cockiness. The only committed companion Miyagi ever had and wanted was _her_. There were indeed other wolves who claimed the forest and mountains as their territory as well, but Miyagi hadn't an interest in associating with many of them since he was a teenager.

This kid definitely seemed like a troublesome bundle. The wolf certainly wouldn't have the strength to keep up with him. And Shinobu would also get bored of hanging around someone so depressed after, maybe, a day or two. There would be no point whatsoever in dealing with the kid any longer.

The puppy, not seeming to enjoy Miyagi's silence, slowly stopped wagging his tail and came closer to the wolf. Shinobu hesitantly nuzzled his head against Miyagi's warm, fuzzy chest.

"Out of all others, why me?" Miyagi finally asked, not caring to step away from the pup brushing against him. If he were to guess, he'd think that this Shinobu guy was only spewing all these weird stuffs at him because Miyagi was the first wolf he came across since running away... but Shinobu already knew Miyagi's name before he even introduced himself.

The small husky momentarily froze in his actions at the question and stepped back, glaring hard at the dirt. "Because... it's destiny."

Miyagi cringed at the mention of their supposed 'destiny' once again. He didn't understand a thing of it.

"Whatever," the older wolf grumbled, again walking away from the youthful pup. "I have no idea what you're talking about, brat... I'm going to find myself a real snack to feed on now."

"I'm coming too," the persistent little thing said, trotting along behind the elder one.

"No. You be a good boy and stay out of adults' way."

"... I'm not a little boy..." the little boy mumbled silently, but was thoroughly annoyed with the constant belittlement he was receiving from the wolf. "If you give it a try, you might discover that you and I are good together."

"Right..." Perhaps the best thing to do in this situation was let the kid do as he pleased and wait for him to get bored on his own. Shinobu would inevitably leave by force or willingness, either way. "Do as you wish, brat," Miyagi muttered, continuing to drag his paws to no particular destination.

"Really?" he heard a lively voice say behind him.

"As long as you don't do anything stupid or somehow disturb me, I don't give a shit what you do, puppy."

The husky quickly scurried up to walk beside the wolf, rather than behind him. Miyagi sighed deeply, hoping he wouldn't give this little brat any misleading ideas. He also certainly didn't want to do anything that might cause this pup to like him any further.

"O-Okay! You won't regret this!" Shinobu stuttered, out of bratty excitement. From the corner of his eye, Miyagi could see the pup's ears standing tall over his head.

"Mm hm," Miyagi mumbled halfheartedly. "I'm going to hunt now. Make sure you don't scare away any of the food," he mentioned, glancing at his current surroundings as he walked. "Otherwise I'll be very upset with you."

"... O-Okay..."

Miyagi smiled, only very slightly. '_That's right... maybe intimidate the bit a bit_,' he mentally praised himself. '_Let the puppy know his place and he'll find someone his own age to bother._'

The raven wolf abruptly stopped walking when his powerful nose caught a tasty scent wavering in the air. Shinobu also stopped and stared at Miyagi in confusion.

"What is it?" the sandy pup inquired, ears perked up over his head again.

"There's a black buck somewhere over there," Miyagi said, motioning his head to the right. "Scent's faint, but it's there."

"... What's a black buck?"

Miyagi heaved a sigh for the umpteenth time in the past little while. It was probably not the greatest decision to allow Shinobu to come along with him. He just hoped he would be able to put up with this husky pup.

* * *

><p>Shinobu did indeed end up scaring away the food. It seemed as though the persistent little guy wanted so badly to redeem himself in the eyes of the older wolf, and due to his lack of hunting experience, the buck fled elsewhere.<p>

Miyagi had instructed Shinobu not to move out from a wide tree he was hiding behind, but the husky pup didn't listen and as a result, charged and pounced at the vulnerable animal. He missed horribly.

Miyagi watched their prey run and save its life, uncertain whether to feel annoyed or instead snicker at the inexperienced husky's miserable aim. He turned out facing away from the embarrassed puppy and chuckled to himself, feeling that particular instinct taking over his other to feel annoyed.

And entertained smile still on his face, the ebony wolf glanced back to see Shinobu staring disappointingly in the direction the mammal ran off in, the pout visible even from where Miyagi was standing. While Miyagi's mind was jumbled up with thoughts on how clumsy, unthinking, stupid, overconfident, laughable, etc, etc, etc, Shinobu was in his actions just now, the raven's grin slowly faded as he realized something unnerving to him.

He hadn't genuinely let himself laugh like that since... since _she_ was alive and in good health. For the past few months, things have always felt all too gloomy and he never seemed to have any emotions for anything, aside from the frequent times he spent thinking back on her.

But here he was, actually _laughing_ at a bratty kid's klutzy mistake.

The annoyed elder wolf growled to himself. Just what was he thinking just now?

"... Miyagi..."

The now scowling wolf glanced up from his front paws to a severely depressed-looking husky pup. Shinobu's caramel ear's were pressed flat against his head, his tail lifeless behind him, and had his head hung low. He was obviously trying to avoid any sort of eyes contact with Miyagi.

Just looking at the brat was a little disheartening... even to Miyagi.

"... I'm sorry... It got away," the younger one pouted, probably feeling ashamed and embarrassed with himself.

Miyagi growled for a second time, frustrated for letting the puppy's sadness get to him when he didn't want it to. "That's why I told you not to do anything," Miyagi scolded, gruffly. "Listen to your elders next time, brat. And don't act without using your head."

Shinobu's front limbs trembled ever so slightly as he hung his head even lower. "Sorry," he whispered.

To Miyagi's distaste... he felt hell of a lot worse than he had in a long time. Maybe this dog was doing it intentionally, but looking at him so sad and defeated caused the wolf to feel intensely guilty. God dammit.

The raven opened his mouth to try and say something of comfort, but the husky spoke just before any words could came out.

"Next time, I'll do it right," Shinobu muttered, peering back up at Miyagi. "B-Because I'll work hard for your acceptance and someday... someday, I'll make you proud of me!" All of the puppy's depression was suddenly wiped out, and now confidence and determination was shining brightly from the smoky greyness of his eyes.

Miyagi arched a brow at the sudden change of emotion. "I don't know about that, kid. Don't get too ahead of yourself."

Shinobu's ears were standing up again, his tail regaining its life in rapid wags. "I can do it! I'll show you... that I can be a suited partner, Miyagi!."

The older wolf shook his head. "No matter what you do, making me proud or not, you'll never be a suitable partner. And I'll never be suitable for you either, pup."

Shinobu playfully jumped at the wolf energetically, growling silently. Miyagi swore, this kid was way too lively for him.

"That's wrong, Miyagi! You're already the perfect one for me. I love you!"

The little canine made things truly awkward and difficult. Miyagi obviously didn't care to have any long-tern relationship with this puppy of any kind, lovers or even mere friends. And even though he had rejected this pup numerous times before, Shinobu was still going at it.

Ditching Shinobu when he wasn't looking wouldn't work since, by now, the pup would have no problem sniffing out his scent (not to mention, Miyagi would feel horribly guilty for leaving a husky pup all alone, while it had no idea how to care for itself in the wild.)

It took them a silent twenty minutes to track down that moving black buck, and in all honesty, Miyagi predicted that Shinobu would have decided to leave him by now. He now supposed that Shinobu might be a lot more persistent than he thought.

"Aren't you bored?" Miyagi asked the kid out of nowhere. The pup's bold gleam of confidence slowly disintegrated as a sense of confusion crossed his face. The young puppy cocked his head slightly to the side.

"Hm?"

Even Miyagi found it hard to deny that the sudden innocent-looking appeal was, even if it was only a slight, fraction of a bit, cute.

But only very little, Miyagi stressed.

The wolf angrily turned away from the dumb puppy. "It's just that normally little guys like you are more interested in playing around and having fun with other puppies. But you're just weird. You want to hang around with an old wolf, and even more so, you say all these weird thing that don't even make any sense."

"I don't need other puppies, I need you," Shinobu muttered, coming up beside the wolf again. "And everything I say makes perfect sense."

"Then what the hell do you mean by destiny?" Miyagi huffed, scowling. "To me, that makes no sense at all."

"It does..." The canine paused for whatever reason. "... It's just that you don't remember..."

Miyagi felt like sighing. "You probably have the wrong wolf. I've never seen you before today."

"How many other wolves named Miyagi can there be, who have black fur like you, have your same scent, have your same voice, the same coloured eyes–"

"Okay, stop listing creepy things about me," Miyagi interrupted, huffing afterward. "Even if we did meet sometime in the past, why don't you just forget about it?" he asked.

"Because," Shinobu started, soundlessly moving one of his front paws beside Miyagi's. "Because... I can't forget. I love you, Miyagi."

Miyagi withdrew his paw away from the brat's, once again rejecting Shinobu's advances. He didn't want to respond – he'd only end up getting angry with the pup. Instead, he walked forward.

Predictably, he heard Shinobu trot behind him again, before he caught sight of the thing caught up to his side.

"What are we going to do now, Miyagi?" Shinobu asked curiously.

"Hm..." Miyagi briefly glanced at their tree-filled surroundings briefly before stopping to take a whiff at the ground beneath them to figure out their current location. Miyagi blinked when he caught an all too familiar scent and snapped his head back up. Why hadn't he noticed their location before?

"Miyagi?"

"Wait here, pup," Miyagi instructed, continuing to advance forward.

Shinobu hesitantly followed Miyagi for a few additional steps. "Why– Where are you going?"

Miyagi stopped, exhaled, and faced the insecure puppy behind him. "Don't worry, I'll be back in a little bit. I'm not so much a jerk that I'd leave a husky pup here and never return again," he said, offering a slight smile to reassure the youthful little thing.

"Can't I come?"

"You'd be best to stay here... or at least around here. Trust me, you'll just be bored coming with me," Miyagi said, dragging his large paws forward again, after Shinobu gave a very uncertain nod.

Miyagi followed the scent for a short few minutes, until his destinations come into view. It was the first time he came to visit her burial area since she died. It was underneath a large mountainside wall, where a bit of the wall went inward, resembling somewhat of a cave that she and Miyagi always slept under.

The raven wolf came closer, staring at where some more fertile and lumpy patch of dirt was. The small area appeared basically untouched to Miyagi, which was a great relief. He couldn't stand it when humans came into his territory and made even the slightest changes to it. Even finding a human-invented sign of some sort pissed the wolf off – those human creatures should stay in their own territory.

Miyagi solemnly lowered his head and breathed in the scent of his precious, but now decaying loved one. He then laid down next to the flattened dirt pile and rested his head over atop his big pair of front paws.

"... I miss you..."

* * *

><p>Shinobu paced back and forth in the exact spot where that wolf left him. He had a scary scowl set on his face as he had no idea where his mate was and why he didn't want Shinobu to come.<p>

'_Damn that old fart, where are you? It's been like ten minutes already!_' the impatient canine complained to himself.

Miyagi had said that he'd be back in a little bit, but how long was that supposed to be? Miyagi was a lot older than Shinobu – their perspectives in time was a lot different. Who knew, maybe Miyagi wouldn't be coming back in a day... or month... or even a year. Miyagi hardly even seemed to want him. There was that possibility that he was only making Shinobu wait there so he could move as far away as possibility until Shinobu wouldn't be able to pick up his scent.

Shinobu's already frightening grimace turned even scarier – he own unpleasant thoughts were making him feel very uneasy. It had been so long since he'd last seen Miyagi. He didn't want their brief time together today to end that abruptly. And even though he did want to trust Miyagi's words, it was true that he hardly knew anything about that wolf's present personality and what he was like today.

'_I'll just sniff him out to see what he's doing... and come right back after_,' the husky pup decided, sniffing at the ground.

He managed to catch Miyagi's scent almost instantly, and soon began to follow it. As he traced the smell, it got stronger with each passing step until he finally caught sight of the large, noir wolf.

Making sure to remain relatively hidden and unnoticeable behind a tree, the sandy-furred pup tried to make out the scene before him... but didn't see anything too special or secretive about the place. Perhaps it was a special spot only to Miyagi.

But what the pup couldn't understand was what could make the side of a mountain special. It didn't exactly look much like a den either – to Shinobu, it seemed like nothing more than a small, deserted piece of land that happened to be by the side of a slightly molded in mountain.

Miyagi was laying next to a patch of fresher dirt, which Shinobu wasn't too sure what it was, but as the husky examined the wolf, he appeared... sad. Even though Shinobu was staring from a distance, he could see the wolf's face full of grief and longing... maybe in the past that was a special place for him.

The pup didn't like seeing Miyagi sad. He wanted to maybe cheer him up... perhaps this could even be a chance to gain Miyagi's affection. Shinobu's top objective would be to cheer the wolf up again, but Miyagi's affection could've been a bonus if Shinobu could do it right.

The young pup pondered for a moment, wondering what Miyagi would enjoy... then as he couldn't think of anything, he thought about what he himself would like.

'Got it,' the puppy thought, hoping Miyagi similar tastes as him. He actually didn't think Miyagi would like it, but it was the only possible thing the pup could go get... and it was the thought that counted, right?

Almost excitedly, Shinobu turned back from the wolf and scampered away to track down his former Takatsuki home.

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>: So, when I said in the beginning that this fic is messed up, I meant that if you look closely at the details, it doesn't make any sense. I chose "black bucks" as their main food because the female ones have the same colour coat as I wanted Shinobu to have. But also, _Arabian_ wolves are supposed to be the ones to eat black bucks... but I didn't give Miyagi a specific species, and if I did, it wouldn't be an Arabian one. I suppose that since this is Junjou stuff, the setting would be in Japan... but the whole time I was thinking of a place like Whistler in BC, Canada (without the snow). Maybe some places in Japan looks like that? I don't know why I'm even pointing out these faults to you people xD

Oh well. Let's just ignore all that and pretend I did an awesome job with my research. Next chapters will be up soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN**: Forgot to mention in the last author's note, you'll notice that Miyagi lost a loved one who I constantly call _she_ or _her_. I think it's probably obvious, but she would be Miyagi's sensei in the actual manga/anime. They haven't given her a name besides "sensei" so I had nothing to address her as.

* * *

><p>The puppy was gone. Miyagi was relieved.<p>

After he'd come back to the area he left Shinobu in, he found that the husky wasn't there anymore. While he was paying _her_ a visit, he knew that the puppy followed him – he was able to smell him nearby. And now the pup's scent lingered in a trail which lead to the direction of the village.

Shinobu probably got bored or homesick, and decided to go back. Miyagi was glad.

Now that he had his independence back, Miyagi travelled a bit west, where he knew there was a river nearby. He remembered he used to walk along that river with _her_ until they found a loud but beautiful waterfall at the end. They both would look down off the edge and see the water all fall off and crash into the river's continuation way below.

Miyagi knew going to that same river wouldn't be the same without her tagging along, but it was still a nice place for him. Plus he was getting thirsty.

The wolf soon found the river he was searching for, after a very short walk through the forest. He took a quick drink from the clean liquid then slowly followed the stream where he knew it would lead him to a tall waterfall. But just as the peak of it came into his view, his black paw paused in midair when his powerful nose caught the familiar scent of... husky puppy.

The brat was coming back? How lovely. Very lovely indeed...

It was useless to try and hide from the kid since Shinobu would have to ability to sniff him out easily, so Miyagi decided to just wait for the pup to come to him. Then he would deal with him once and for all, getting the sandy puppy to leave him alone. Wolves and puppies weren't meant to be together, and this Shinobu kid's weird logic only proved it.

After a moment, Miyagi heard some rustling from the forest and turned his head around when he heard a twig snap on the ground. As expected, Shinobu was running excitedly up to him – he had something in his mouth.

Once standing in front of the displeased raven wolf, Shinobu dropped the white thing between his teeth in front of Miyagi's paws, his tail waving as though high on steroids.

"Miyagi!" Shinobu exclaimed happily. "I brought you something."

The wolf slowly glanced from the puppy to the rubber toy bone in front of him. "..."

"I sneaked to my old owner's house and fetched this from outside the front door! I remembered that I left it there, and luckily man and woman Takatsuki weren't home so I got it for you," Shinobu said, panting lightly from the journey.

"..." Miyagi didn't touch the gift. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Because I wanted to make you happier," the pup responded.

Miyagi sighed. He knew Shinobu followed him at some point when he was at her burial area. He thought Shinobu must have been able to figure out that it was a tomb-less grave just by looking at the lumpy patch of dirt.

And now Shinobu was giving him a toy. Was the kid trying to make Miyagi forget about her? Or even gain Miyagi's affection to replace her? Thinking about the brat's possible intentions pissed Miyagi off.

"I don't want it," he stated sternly. "I'm not a puppy. If you want to have a play buddy, then go find another brat like yourself."

Shinobu's neutral expression turned into bewildered anger and confusion upon listening to Miyagi's careless rejection.

The wolf continued, "I don't care why you keep following me, but I'm telling you now to stop. I hate puppies and I hate having to deal with all your shit."

"I told you, it's–"

"Fuck fate," Miyagi grumbled, his throat producing a threatening growl. "Fuck destiny... and I seriously want you to fuck off." He was at his breaking point with this kid. He needed to be removed from Shinobu, soon. "You and I aren't supposed to be together, and I strongly believe that you should go back home so your masters can spoil and pamper you again."

"I'm not spoiled!" Shinobu seemed more angry than anything else now. "I belong with you, not back there!"

Miyagi nudged the rubber toy with his large paw. "Wolves don't play with puppy toys, brat. You should know that."

"That doesn't matter – It's the thought that counts! I'm in love with you, Miyagi, and I want to make you happy–!"

"You _don't_ make me happy!" the wolf snapped, using his paw to kick the white bone away. It ended up slashing into the rushing river.

"Hey!" the pup yelled, rushing over to the river's edge. The current was strong and rapid, very quickly bringing the floating toy increasingly closer to the dropping point.

Obviously afraid of the water, the husky seemed not knowing what to do and could merely watch his play toy crash down at the bottom of the falls.

As he saw the youth's hind legs tremble after a moment of him staring down the very edge of the cliff... Miyagi thought that maybe throwing the puppy's toy away wasn't the best option...

Miyagi stepped closer and Shinobu whirled back around. The wolf could see nothing but rage in his stormy little eyes.

"Ass hole!" the husky shouted, baring his teeth at the wolf. In the short amount of time Miyagi had known this crazy animal, he had never seen him look so upset. "If you didn't want it, you should have just given it back! Why the hell did you do that?"

Miyagi suddenly felt quite guilty for upsetting Shinobu the way he did – even though he still felt annoyed with Shinobu, maybe it would probably be best to apologize.

'_No_,' Miyagi thought. '_Better to say nothing than to show sympathy for him. What's done is done and can't be changed._'

The silence seemed to drag on for hours. All that could he heard was the streaming water while all that could be seen was Shinobu's saddening, hurt-filled eyes. His deflated ears fell to his head, which could never be a good sign in a puppy. The wolf then noticed how glossy the grey eyes were with tears.

"... I-I really... liked that b-bone...!" he whimpered in a strangled choke. Miyagi could see that he was now trembling in a mixture of sadness and anger.

"Well what can we do about it?" Miyagi huffed, thinking about nothing but how much he loathed himself at the moment. "You expect me to climb down and get it back for you?"

He gawked when Shinobu feebly nodded.

"No way."

The poor puppy looked as though he could break down at any given second. Miyagi couldn't understand though – it was just a rubber bone!

"T-Then... I want to–"

"Sorry, brat," the wolf muttered. "You wouldn't be able to get it now. It takes a while to get down there, unless you jump off. Besides, it'll have drifted off in no time."

The elder wolf groaned when Shinobu let out a whiny puppy whimper... staring at him with miserable, pleading eyes.

"Forget it, puppy. Just going down there would be an utter waste of time. You can live without it."

"... B-But... I really really l-liked it...!" he whimpered, tacking on an unusually cute hiccup. "Y-You bastard... I thought you were... somebody s-special to me...!"

It was difficult to appear uncaring when watching the pissed off pup try so damn hard not to break down crying.

"I-I hate you...!"

Miyagi felt a paw twitch. He wasn't sure whether or not the puppy meant it, and was even more uncertain as to why he felt such an impact from hearing him say something like that.

'_It's for Shinobu-chin's own good... he has to learn to let go of the things that mean a lot to him while he's still young_,' he preached himself. '_Just walk away and he'll eventually get over it_.'

"I'm going to leave now," Miyagi said. "I have other things to do. Stop moping over that little bone – it's useless," he huffed, spinning around so he wouldn't have to any longer look at the broken puppy. "Your toy won't be coming back. Might as well move on and get used to it."

Hearing silence from the puppy, Miyagi hesitantly crept back into the forest. He walked slowly... and was actually worried when he didn't hear anybody trail behind him.

'..._ Isn't he going to follow?_' he wondered, adjusting his walking speed even slower.

Still, he didn't hear anybody stalking him.

'... _I probably just have to wait a few minutes. The toy couldn't have meant __**that**__ much to that brat_...'

Miyagi then risked glancing back at Shinobu. The husky was lying down, still staring downward at the noisy waterfall.

The wolf groaned and left him, wandering even further into the forest. He couldn't stand it when he felt like he was in the wrong... especially to this kid! It bothered Miyagi to think that he was caring about this a lot more than he should have.

Shinobu was being overly sensitive. Just like most pups tended to do. This was certainly not Miyagi's problem...

Not his issue at all...

**TERRORIST**

Miyagi had _never_ became so excruciatingly distressed in such a short amount of time before. After half an hour of lifeless pacing, he came back and that damn brat was _still_ laying by the cliff and watching the perpetual water race off the edge.

Miyagi thought that Shinobu would get bored twenty nine minutes ago – puppies were supposed to have amazingly short attention spans! Miyagi couldn't have hurt the husky _that_ badly... could he?

Nope, never, idiotic bogus, rotting bullshit.

As much as Miyagi convinced himself that he didn't do anything wrong, it was still abnormally daunting to watch someone who was once an overly energetic little shit transform into a heap if shattered depression. And knowing that he himself was the cause of this was a kick in the balls for Miyagi.

The raven wolf had finally gotten enough of lingering and spying when he at long last came back out from behind a broad tree, creeping toward the pup as tactfully as he could be. He did not want the Shinobu kid to sense any little bit of concern out of him.

Shinobu's whole body flinched when Miyagi lazily plopped down beside him, not having expected him to come back. Miyagi avoided to look at Shinobu's red-rimmed eyes and whatever sort of unhappy expression he had on.

"Define destiny," he grumbled, letting his tail lay limp behind him. Miyagi glanced out at the beautiful overhead view of mountainous forestry before him, until his eyes scanned the water running underneath them. Even down there, the water was still flowing rapidly; there was no way the toy could have been retrieved now.

"... Huh?" the puppy asked, frowning and blinking.

Miyagi released an aggravated sigh. "I'm trying, okay? To understand the garbage – I mean, the _things_ you're saying."

From the very corner of Miyagi's eyes, he saw Shinobu's head turn away from him and rest back down over his paws.

"Why would you care?" the husky pouted, still blatantly upset. "You told me to fuck off."

"Forget about that for now," Miyagi growled. He just came back and he was already getting annoyed with the brat.

"... For now?" the youth mimicked.

"I just said I'm trying to understand you. Then we can all be happy again."

The puppy hesitantly muttered, "... You said before that I don't make you happy at all..." He sounded tattered still. Miyagi didn't like any of it.

"Just forget about that," he huffed once again. "If I know what you mean by destiny and how we _supposedly_ met before, I might be able to remember a bit and we could get along better."

"... You said before that–"

"_Forget_ about anything I've said!" the wolf snapped, steadily losing his patience. "Just explain it to me... so I can stop dwelling on something so seemingly trivial."

"..." The husky pondered. "... Fine..."

* * *

><p>This chapter is quite short, but that's okay. Makes for a better and longer next chapter, which will be out in a couple of days.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

**AN**: This chapter starts off with the little flashback thing of their meeting in the past.

* * *

><p>A tiny, fluffy little husky puppy pitter-pattered excitedly into the forest after slipping out of his leash.<p>

It wasn't long since he had been bought from the city, and he had never been in the wilderness before. Those Takatsuki people didn't seem to want to let him explore on his own, though they so foolishly left him alone wearing a leash way too loose around him.

It was the perfect opportunity to gain his wild independence, and that was exactly what Shinobu did. His tiny paws slowly brought him past branches, twigs, and big, fat roots sticking out from the earth. He tried his best to run, but it was difficult since he didn't want to trip over something and hobble over.

He hadn't the greatest balance yet, but the very youthful pup was indeed still growing. He hoped to someday grow as large as a great, big wolf.

And speaking of wolves, the husky pup just noticed a group of them hanging around in the middle of the forest. Shinobu grinned happily, his small pink tongue hanging out – he wanted to join them too!

"H-Hey!" he cried out, his small, puffy body scrambling to catch up to the four or five grown-ups.

Hearing the faint whine, the pack of wolves turned their heads to the adventurous husky.

They each had messy blood painted around their mouths.

The wolves all furrowed their brows at the intruder; they must not have been expecting a tiny ball of fuzz to visit them just after their meal time.

"I-I'm Shinobu!" the pup proudly declared, flipping his stubby tail madly behind him. "W-What's all of y-your names!" His voice was very shaky and his question sounded much more of an exclamation – all of which the pup decided was out of excitement for making new friends.

They all eyed the strange, outgoing puppy skeptically and rather unwelcoming, though Shinobu didn't pay much mind to that with his naivety. It was silent while the wolves examined him, aside from the husky's gentle pants and tireless, flipping tail.

"... What are you doing out here without a leash, puppy?" one of the bunch inquired at last. "You're so tiny – I could have mistaken you for a big, juicy bunny rabbit," he sneered, emitting chuckles from his group.

Shinobu didn't know what was too funny and actually didn't understand the joke too well (were rabbits really juicy, let alone edible?) but decided that the best way to befriend these nice-looking wolves was to laugh along with them.

"I-I wanted to explore out here," Shinobu happily said, his ears standing atop his fuzzy head. "Do you guys... want to be my friends?"

"Sure," another one responded almost instantly, one edge of his mouth curling upward to create a teasing half-smile.

The first wolf that spoke looked at the other one and asked, "Are you seriously going to bother with this kid?"

He was mumbling, so Shinobu wasn't sure what he meant or even if he heard him right.

"Might as well do something while we wait for Miyagi to come back," the wolf responded, keeping his dark eyes fixated on the small thing before them. Shinobu stared confused at their conversation, unsure what to make of adult talk.

"True."

"So, kid..." a different wolf said, crouching in front of Shinobu. The pup began wagging his tail some more, now that attention was once again being drawn to him. "What do you like to do in your spare time? For fun?"

The husky smiled madly at the choice of conversation topic. "W-Well... m-my owners gave me a white rubber bone when they took me from the pet shop! I... I really like that bone."

"Aww..." The wolves snickered and Shinobu was glad to have entertained them, like the attention whore he was.

"He's cute. I like him," one said.

The husky felt more happiness surge inside him. These grown ups were so nice!

"W-What do _you_ guys like to do for fun?" he asked them in excitement.

"Eat," all of them responded instantly.

"..." Shinobu never thought of eating as something fun to do. He supposed that maybe eating was considered as a fun thing to do for older canines... it probably sucked to grow up. "... W-What is your favourite thing to eat?"

"Meat," one answered. "Whatever game we can sniff out and find out here. We hunt them down then eat them up."

"What's hunting like?" Like those wolves, Shinobu also ate meat. But he never hunted before and had no idea what was done in the activity since humans always supplied him with meals.

"Hunting?" The wolf grinned. "Would you like me to demonstrate?"

Shinobu eagerly bobbed his head up and down.

"Well..." The wolf stood up straight as the others watched, and he bared his sharp teeth. Shinobu's smile nervously faded once the wolf growled. "First, we make our prey fear us by growling viciously at them."

"... O-Oh..." Shinobu was able to understand why anyone would fear that wolf – he looked really scary like that...

Shinobu abruptly flinched and accidentally whimpered shrilly when the wolf suddenly jumped at him, letting loose a loud snarl.

The wolf continued saying, "After we scare the living shit out of our meal..." He backed the terrified puppy against a large, cold boulder. "... We shred the thing to a slow, painful death. We love watching them try to struggle and get away, but it knows, and we know, that it's impossible. Their pathetic attempts always wound up futile."

Shinobu tried to look fearless like a grown up so these guys wouldn't think poorly of him... but it wasn't easy. His paws were brought up close to him and were shivering. His tail couldn't find any energy and found itself curled up against the husky. Shinobu's ears fell to his head, unable to get back up.

"... O-Oh..."

When his mouth opened, his teeth would chatter. The wolf didn't have to make it seem so real!

Seeing the change in the younger canine, the wolf smirked devilishly. "What? Are you scared that I'll do that to _you_?"

"... C-Course not..."

"I've never eaten dog before, actually," the wolf said, poking at Shinobu with his seemingly gigantic paw.

The husky attempted to swat the larger arm away from his body, but his shakiness and size difference just made him much too slow to make much of a difference. "S-Stop it...!"

The mean wolf obliged, but his smiled grew broader and his eyes narrowed. "What's wrong puppy?"

"... I-I don't like... being t-teased like that..."

That made the wolf laugh openly. "Who says I was teasing you? I can really eat you, y'know."

The husky's eyes were stuck into the wolf's own wicked ones, but he heard one of the others snicker and say, "Damn, you're cruel to him."

The meanest one ignored him and easily knocked the pup over onto his side with his paw. Shinobu tried scrambling to sit back up again, but whenever he did so, he would get pushed back against the moist dirt. He was being treated like a raggedy play thing.

"H-Hey!" he protested feebly.

"Even though we just ate, I still am rather hungry. And to be honest, you do look pretty tasty. Would you make a nice snack?" he asked, ceasing to touch Shinobu any longer.

Shinobu felt like crying as he sat up, avoiding to look back at the pack of wolves. He had never felt so worthless.

"Hm, puppy?"

Shinobu's whole body was trembling violently, all of his fright worked against him and made him unable to get up and sprint away.

Then while he listened to the wolves laugh for the umpteenth time, he heard a new voice speak.

"Back. What are you guys doing?"

"Ah, Miyagi!"

Shinobu hesitantly shifted his line of vision to the newcomer, now that attention was being diverted from him.

It was a black wolf, unlike these grey and silver ones. The husky couldn't help but release a small whimper to prevent himself from crying when he looked at all of the five or so nasty wolves together. This drew the black wolf's attention to him, unfortunately. He didn't want him to threaten him more and make him look like an idiot.

The raven wolf was confused upon catching sight of the young puppy. "Who's he?"

"Some kid we found," a wolf in the back responded. "The puppy came and thought he could be friends with us, but now he believes we're going to eat him.

Miyagi let up a careless chuckle, continuing to stare at the shaky pup. "Really? You guys aren't nice."

Shinobu winced again, fearful that this guy too would want to eat him. It was a bad idea to have come down here on his own.

"What should we do with him?" the one right in front of the husky asked, growling for no purpose but to make the pup even more intimidated.

Shinobu whimpered, unable to back away any further due to the giant boulder blocking his rear path.

"Let's just leave him," Miyagi suggested. "He's too scrawny to be eaten now. We'll wait until the thing grows bigger and have him then."

The puppy continued to tremble and frightfully glanced back at the bigger wolves. "..."

"... True," one of them said.

"Anyway," Miyagi continued, turning away. "We have other things to do. Let's go."

Shinobu observed the black-furred wolf as they all ran off and left him. He wasn't all too sure what just happened... but because of that wolf, the others left him alone.

Miyagi must have saved his life!

He'd have to make sure to remember that name... perhaps they could someday meet again. Maybe it was destiny.

...

"..." Miyagi was speechless. "... HAH?"

Shinobu rested his head atop his arms, gazing at the waterfall. "... I really thought it was destiny..."

"Just because of that one meeting?"

"... No," Shinobu said. "... There was this one other time when I've seen you. Just after I was bought and was being driven through the mountains, I was staring out the window of the car with my rubber bone. The car passed by you for a second... and I remembered what you looked like because I admired wolves and you had an awesome colour of fur."

Miyagi grinned, pleased with the compliment alone.

"... You saved my life from those other wolves two weeks after that. Then when you and them left, that was when man Takatsuki found me in the forest and brought me home. When I saw my rubber bone again, I realized that you were the same wolf I saw from the car ride. And then whenever I looked at my bone after all that, I kept thinking of you. That's why... it's destiny."

"You know..." Miyagi sighed deeply. "Maybe you wouldn't have realized it when you were little, but my friends weren't going to actually eat you. They were just teasing."

"No," Shinobu said. "They were definitely going to eat me. And then you saved me from them."

"That's... not right at all," Miyagi said, thinking that was kid was utterly ridiculous. Though, he also sympathized him a bit. "We wolves most certainly do not eat dogs. We eat game. And also, I didn't save you from anything. I don't remember any of it that well, but I must have been playing with you."

"I know what happened. They wanted to eat me and you came in and saved me from them. It's fate, Miyagi."

The wolf reluctantly let up a faint smile. He couldn't tell how someone like this pup was able to thrive with such nativity. The thing was dumb and oblivious.

But.

Shinobu was also sort of cute.

"You're an idiot."

"Fuck you," Shinobu whined, turning away.

"I was a jerk back around that time, really rebellious. So even though I don't remember, I couldn't have cared much about a lost puppy since I never cared about anything," the raven said, eyeing the upset puppy.

"You're an ass... go away," the puppy sulked, looking nothing but depressed.

"No." Miyagi blinked at his own response. "... I mean, you have to stop being miserable over a dumb bone."

"It's not dumb. It was... it was a lot of comfort when you weren't around."

Miyagi averted his indifferent stare from Shinobu to the streaming river at the bottom of the falls. He truly did feel terrible for throwing a treasured item into the river. Miyagi would have felt annoyed, but that was all drowned out by his other damn feelings of guilt. Getting the toy back would be the right thing to do, but it was long gone already.

"Shinobu-chin, I know it probably was somehow important-ish to you and all that stuff, but it won't be coming back. You'll have to deal with it."

"Go away, Miyagi."

For a moment, Miyagi considered throwing the pup into the falls – the husky could find his bone and Miyagi would rid of destiny-obsessed Shinobu. It seemed like a perfect plan... if it weren't for the puppy's sad eyes gazing helplessly into nothingness.

Since when had he allowed himself to turn into such a softie?

"Don't be like that," Miyagi huffed in his attempt to sound uncaring. "Get up, you're wasting your youth being miserable over things like this."

Miyagi hopped back onto his paws for emphasis, but Shinobu didn't budge from his spot. Kids were too sensitive these days.

"... I'll teach you how to hunt...?"

"Not hungry," Shinobu muttered.

"... I can teach you something else...?"

"Don't want to."

"You can't just sit here for the rest of your life... let's go do something." He never would have thought that he would be the one attempting to get Shinobu to be with him. It was certainly a strange switch.

"You never wanted to before."

"_Forget_ about before. I'm offering to do stuff with you. Take the offer or leave it," Miyagi grumbled. He almost felt like grabbing the canine's fluffy tail between his teeth and dragging him away from that spot with him.

"..." Shinobu wasn't saying anything anymore. The silence was causing Miyagi to feel increasingly concerned by the second.

"... I'm going to hunt now because I'm starving. And... you are welcomed to come, puppy," the old wolf grumbled.

More dead silence emitted from the stubborn brat, though this time he slowly turned his head back to glance at Miyagi. With that hurt expression still evident on his face, Miyagi wasn't sure if it were a good or bad notion.

The wolf pivoted around and left, waiting to see if Shinobu would come with him this time. He didn't look back – there was no point in showing the pup anymore of his own weakening composure – but listened attentively for any scampering noises behind him. But once again, there was no such success.

* * *

><p>The wolf did end up hunting alone. Though he didn't turn out as hungry as he had previously thought. He caught a lost rabbit and only turned out eating half of it, leaving the rest for any other wolf to finish off.<p>

The only thing that was on the wolf's mind were thoughts on how he could possibly make it up to Shinobu. He regretted what he did, and couldn't even recall what had gotten him so pissed in the first place. Miyagi wonder if he really did overreact... and was slowly getting a strong feeling that he did, while he thought more about it.

The wolf concluded that the only two ways that could potentially earn him Shinobu's forgiveness was to either accept the kid as his partner or lover or whatever, or he could bring him the toy back. With all the time that had gone by, the odds of fetching that damn bone wasn't at all in Miyagi's favour, plus it would be a huge pain in the ass to go down the hill and attempt to catch sight of it.

But of course, Miyagi would much rather go through all that the trouble of finding it than permanently be stuck in a relationship with a canine like him. That was why, as much as Miyagi was reluctant to, he cautiously travelled down to the river and began searching.

* * *

><p>Miyagi was damn filthy and baked with dirt. He felt exhausted and somewhat hungry now. But he managed to find it.<p>

The brat's toy had floated off to the side and had stopped when it reached a large portion of mud, which was too thick to allow the toy to go any further. Miyagi only found it after walking for an hour along the riverside, and ended up having to jump into the mud in order to reach it. His clean limbs and fur coat inevitably got soaked in mud, which Miyagi wasn't too pleased about. It dried all over his legs, stomach, and chest.

It took a lot longer to get back due to the extra weight clinging onto his coat and the uphill climb back up. By the time Miyagi knew it, it had fallen dark. He wasn't even sure if Shinobu would still be waiting for him. He hoped that brat didn't wander off anywhere. Who knew if the kid was afraid of the dark.

After a while longer of travelling past tall, overshadowing trees, Miyagi finally made it to the spot where he had left Shinobu, and surprised at the amount of relief he had mustered up when he saw Shinobu.

The brat was no longer lying down and staring longingly into the river below, but was instead up and sort of pacing about. Miyagi come closer and snapped a branch as he had done so, gaining the kid's attention, as he was unable to speak with his mouth full of rubber bone.

"Miyagi." Shinobu slowly came up to him skeptically.

Miyagi locked his dark eyes onto Shinobu's, and tossed the bone in front of the kid's smaller paws.

Shinobu flinched, gawking down at his muddy, precious toy. The boy's mouth was slightly agape, though he seemed at a loss for words.

"Wha–"

Miyagi interrupted him by jumping into the river to rinse off the mud. Although the current was strong, the water was actually shallow enough for him to step into without being engulfed. As the stream cleaned him off, Miyagi dunked his head into the water for a quick drink.

He then leaped leaped back onto the dry ground once relatively clean, shaking his whole body in attempt to dry himself off. The water made his coat all spiky, but he hated having his body either covered in crusty dirt. Miyagi looked at Shinobu to apologize for any water hitting or splashing him, but quickly froze when stunned, adorable bug-eyes stared at him.

Miyagi forced himself to look away from the brat.

'_Ignore him, Miyagi_,' he told himself, refusing to risk glancing at the puppy again.

"... M-Miyagi..." the husky stuttered in a shaky pout.

The wolf felt his ear twitch when that small voice reached it. He had to set things straight with this kid now... before he could get the opportunity to do anything else to soften the wolf up.

"Brat," Miyagi said sternly. He accidentally looked back at the husky as he spoke, and get choked up to see the kid's eyes getting filled with big, fat, shimmering tears. He immediately snapped his head away once again.

'_Ignore him, you idiot!_' he huffed to himself. The pup was merely too emotional. Miyagi couldn't have touched him _that_ much by finding the bone... could he?

"Y-You care..." the elder one heard Shinobu blubber. Miyagi gulped when Shinobu hiccuped. "... You really c-care... I-I thought..."

Miyagi felt the strong, sudden need to interrupt the puppy. But he couldn't tell what was preventing him.

"... I thought... you h-hated me."

"Dumb ass." Miyagi was so grateful of his fur coat because he knew he might have been red in the face. "I can't decide whether or not I hate somebody so quickly," he grumbled.

"... Nng... nn..." Shinobu stood there, trembling and trying not to cry. Miyagi had always thought of this kid as some cocky, overconfident brat whom was full of total bullshit, but now Miyagi couldn't see anything but sincere, overwhelming emotions and vulnerability.

Perhaps the kid really did earnestly fall in love with him for whatever reason, and believed that destiny had brought them together.

But Miyagi had different feelings and logic to follow. No matter how much the kid had fallen for Miyagi, the brutal truth was still the same. He shared none of those feelings.

"Shinobu-chin," the wolf said.

When Shinobu's glossy eyes met his, Miyagi instantly looked to the side. He didn't want to look at the kid while breaking it to him.

"... Um, it's true that I don't hate you, and I care enough to take responsibility for your bone... and stuff... But, I still strongly believe that you and I should part ways."

Miyagi couldn't bare to look at Shinobu, but he wasn't enjoying the silence the brat was responding with.

"And honestly, the sooner the better. You should go back to your house. I think you would be much better off there," he said.

"... But..."

"... Your masters probably love you and you won't have to worry about things like finding food since it'll already be supplied."

"I still want to be with Miyagi though," the husky pouted.

"You can't," Miyagi said solidly. "Go find somewhere to sleep for tonight and in the morning, I'll take you back to where you came from."

"But... c-can't I at least sleep with you?"

"No."

"..." Shinobu stared at the ground in disappointment. "I want to be with you longer. Please, Miyagi." Head still aimed at the ground, Shinobu's pitifully sullen eyes averted to meet Miyagi's.

Whether Shinobu was doing it on purpose or it just _happened_ to make Miyagi sympathize, it certainly worked.

"... No, puppy," the wolf grumbled. "I'm just saying what's best for you. So go find somewhere, sleep, and we'll say goodbye tomorrow.

"... Fine..." Shinobu crouched in front of his mud-splattered bone. "I'm just going to stay here by the river a bit longer to clean this though... Goodnight, Miyagi."

"Goodnight." Miyagi began walking away without another word, stepping into the pitch-black forest and leaving Shinobu by the river.

Miyagi was prepared to say his final goodbyes to Shinobu. He was prepared from the moment he met him today. He found Shinobu to be a truly interesting puppy, but no matter how he'd look at it, the brat was also nothing than a one-day acquaintance.

Whether Shinobu's tale of destiny was the ultimate truth or not, it was not going to lead them into becoming anymore than mere memories once Miyagi will drop the bundle off tomorrow. Miyagi would have no problem moving on, and he hoped Shinobu wouldn't either.

Miyagi was absorbed into his own thoughts, until he lifted his head when he heard something else stir somewhere not too far him him. His eyes caught an incredibly faint glow of light in the corner of his eyes, and he knew it must have been from a flashlight.

'_Damn humans are wandering in our territory again_.'

Although it deemed strange to Miyagi that a human would be wandering through the forest this dark at night, he payed no mind to the dude and decided to keep walking wherever.

"Are you around here, boy?" the human creature called out loudly. "Where is that dog? Shinobu?"

In the midst of thinking how incredibly stupid humans were, his ears perked when he heard that brat's name being called.

'_Shinobu-chin's master?'_ Miyagi wondered, stopping in his tracks to turn and stalk the light.

The old wolf ensured to be very quiet as to go unnoticed by the person, since he was curious what would happen. Miyagi's guess was that the human was just searching to bring his house pet home. That would be easier for Miyagi... he wouldn't have to do it himself. The human was also heading in the right direction if Shinobu was still at the same location, near the river.

Miyagi continued to follow, leaving a fair amount of distance between him and the man. After another moment of silent searching, the person reached the rear of the forest where the river was. Miyagi wasn't certain if Shinobu was there or not, but soon heard a human say, "Shinobu! There you are!"

The wolf crept even closer, hiding safely within the tree's shadows, and allowed himself a view of what was happening. The flashlight shined radiantly against the husky, who displayed a combination of surprise and fear in his grey eyes. It appeared like the kid wanted to back away from his master, but couldn't of course, due to the water behind him.

"Here, Shinobu," the human encouraged. Both Miyagi and Shinobu watched from different angles as the man pulled out a long, string-like object, which was probably Shinobu's leash.

Miyagi's brow furrowed slightly at the human invention. Its purpose was to restrain dogs from going where humans didn't want them to go. As a dog would attempt to wander off, the things would tug on its neck. To Miyagi, a leash was an object built nothing more but for a human's control over the canine.

Miyagi was starting to feel that he wouldn't want Shinobu in one of those things, but he also supposed it was necessary if his master was going to bring him home now. And though he was glad that Shinobu would be leaving so abruptly, he was willing to admit that he would have liked to at least spend one more moment alone with the kid to properly say goodbye.

The kid may have been a big hassle, but it wasn't all _too_ bad. Shinobu was ridiculous... in sort of a refreshing way. It wasn't like Miyagi disliked him. But he didn't like him either. It was simply that Shinobu enabled him to once again feel all sorts of emotions which he hadn't had the chance to do since his mate passed on. The kid reminded him what it was like to have a companion...

Miyagi stared at Shinobu before him with the human man trying to whistle and clap his hands in feeble attempts to get the canine to come. As seconds ticked on, the old wolf was rapidly having a change of mind... It wasn't fun being alone.

Mere minutes ago, he was sternly urging Shinobu that it would be best for him to go back home... which could have been true. He hated the thought that he'd try to go against his own decisions, but now he wasn't sure if he wanted to let the puppy go too soon... He figured that having _someone_ was better than letting nostalgia prevent him from actually living again. And for Shinobu to appear now after _she_ died, it could have been luck... or a gift...

He had to act now or never – there would be no second chance or another opportunity... needless to say, there would never be another crazy kid coming to Miyagi to declare their 'destiny' and other bogus remarks which would make no sense.

Without another thought, Miyagi leaped in front of the whining Shinobu and snarled his teeth at the man.

The human yelped and staggered back a few feet in shock, just before Miyagi pointed his nose to the moon and let loose a powerful, earth-shattering howl that pierced through the midnight darkness. His voice was loud and intimidating, with capabilities of making anyone run away in a cowering fright, their hair standing on end.

Once the first breath was all out, he growled protectively and issued a second bone-chilling howl with just as much depth as his first.

'_Piss off, Homo sapien... I don't like sharing..._'

Obvious fear was blunt in the human's face – of course he would be scared. A wolf could murder him if they wanted to. With Miyagi's current wet and spiky-looking fur, along with the addition of the flashlight beaming against him, Miyagi looked even more threatening than an ordinary wolf – he could have passed for a vicious werewolf. An angry one, at that.

Just as Miyagi's second howl neared its end, the human seemed scared shitless at the creature, thus ran off back into the forest again. Miyagi silenced himself and glared in the direction the human left.

All was quiet except for the whimpering and overly emotional puppy behind him.

Miyagi sighed... he was reluctant to face Shinobu again after he had done the most impressive job of contradicting himself.

"M-Miyagi..."

"Kid," Miyagi huffed gruffly, keeping his back faced toward him. "You're probably thinking some really sappy stuff right now... but, uh... you know, this isn't exactly what it really appears like... I guess." Miyagi wasn't sure what point he was trying to convey.

The husky hiccuped behind him, causing Miyagi's tail to twitch. "... Y-You..." Shinobu sniffled silently. "... made m-my owner go away... a-and..."

"..." Miyagi stubbornly scowled when Shinobu whimpered, unable to finish his sentence due to his overactive surge of emotions. "Brat. Don't talk if you can't even do it properly."

Swallowing up his pride, the wolf hesitantly turned around to see the mess of a husky pup. The quivering little thing was trying to steady out his breathing, his eyes holding growing droplets of water at the edges.

"... D-Does this m-mean..." Shinobu hiccuped. "... you w-want me to..." He made a weird but cute shaky noise. "... b-be with you now?"

Miyagi grimaced away from him. He knew the answer, but was reluctant to admit anything to this pup. "... It's just that, maybe that guy wasn't the right one to take care of a brat like you..."

Shinobu sniffled and ducked his head lower, beginning to sob to himself. "... Nngh..." The husky whimpered and hiccuped. "... A-And since man Takatsuki i-isn't the right o-one... ngh... t-to take c-care of me... then y-you...?"

Miyagi's brow twitched watching the pitiful sobs, unsure if Shinobu had even finished his shaky sentence.

"... T-Then you... w-want to... waaaaaahh...!"

"Stop blubbering!" the annoyed wolf finally snapped. "I don't even understand what you're trying to say! You're too much of a sap."

The heavy-breathing mess of tears didn't say anything and instead made weird whiny noises that puppies liked to make when they tried not to cry... or maybe it was just a Shinobu thing. Miyagi didn't know, it wasn't often when he had to deal with crybaby kids.

'_This brat is hopeless_,' Miyagi thought, bringing himself closer to the pup.

He gazed at Shinobu's teary yet joyful state, the affection within the wolf steadily growing as time went. It felt wrong standing there so still. Miyagi wanted to do something... to at least express a bit of the gratitude he had for Shinobu's being there.

"I-I love you, Miyagi..." the husky sobbed between whimpers.

The wolf felt unable to think with any of his logic – he leaned down a slowly licked Shinobu's fuzzy cheek, gently with his pink tongue... then quickly drew back, scowling elsewhere.

Shinobu's large, lustrous eyes blinked at the wolf's unexpected action. "... What..."

"You had some of your fur sticking out weirdly," Miyagi lied. "Can't even groom yourself right..."

Shinobu also glanced away, embarrassed with the thought that he had just appeared less than perfect for Miyagi. "... O-Oh..."

"You know, Shinobu-chin," Miyagi grumbled dully. "I uh, felt bad for... kind of acting poor to you. Not just when I almost lost your bone, but I said sort of, um, _mean_ things that probably hurt your bratty feelings a lot."

Shinobu was in pure silence – he even rid of his crying noises to listen attentively. It annoyed Miyagi to say any of these things to Shinobu, but it was the adult thing to do. It was also about time he say something _right_ to the kid.

"So... I apologize for all of that." He paused, trying to find the words to say his next bit. "... Also, i-if you're alright with it and willing to forgive me... I wouldn't mind having a companion again." Once again he stopped, trying to prevent himself from dwelling on _her_ by shifting his eyes, along with his thoughts, to Shinobu.

Fresh tears were starting to pool around Shinobu's eyes. "W-We can be... mates?"

"Not _mates_!" Miyagi quickly snapped. "I didn't say mates! I said _companions_! Get your definitions right."

"... Y-You mean... be companions... and _then_ become mates?"

Miyagi opened his mouth to argue Shinobu's false inquiry, but the puppy was too quick to speak again.

"I-I do forgive you... because we're... destiny..."

"..." The wolf somehow found himself silent. He didn't have the energy to argue with this kid any longer... it had been a long ass day. "... Let's go, Shinobu-chin. We should sleep now. I'm exhausted."

The husky's ears perked. "Together?"

"..." Miyagi sighed in total defeat. "... Fine."

He turned and walked into the forest to find a good place for them to rest, smiling softly as he heard the scampering youth follow close behind him.

Miyagi couldn't imagine what sort of conflict Shinobu would bring in the future to come. He didn't want Shinobu as a replacement for his lost companion, but he had faith that Shinobu would help him move on from her.

He needed someone to care for again. And destiny or not, it was likely that he'd manage to care a great deal for someone like Shinobu.

Miyagi highly doubted he's fall for Shinobu in a romantic sort of way, but for the brat to convince Miyagi to let them stay together... Miyagi feared this kid could make anything happen.

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>: The end.

So yeah... all three chapters were supposed to be just a one-shot, but the word count was indeed a bit staggering in length for that. Thus created three chapters, and now it's at an official end.

Please review me... it's highly appreciated.


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